Lebanese student leaders warned on Saturday that a recent hike in tuition fees at two leading Beirut universities constitutes a “declaration of war” against young people struggling to cope with an economic crisis and demanded involvement in decisions affecting their future.
“This is a declaration of war on 70 per cent of students who cannot afford the new fees,” said Jad El Hani of the American University in Beirut’s Secular Club at a press conference. “This is like telling young people: you have no right to learn.”
Young independents across Lebanon have presented a united front to defend their right to an education, which is becoming largely unaffordable in a country lauded for its quality of higher learning.
For the past 30 years, political life in the country's universities had been dominated by the same sectarian parties that have ruled the country since the end of the civil war, and are widely accused of corruption and mismanagement.
Yet independents won an unprecedented number of seats in student elections this year, a feat that would have been unimaginable before the nation-wide protests that broke out in October 2019.
They have organised protests on campuses throughout Lebanon against sudden hikes in tuition fees that could leave many students unable to continue their education in the Spring semester.
We decided not to pay the price anymore. We will no longer be victims
Two of Lebanon’s most well-known universities have announced changes that amount to more than doubling tuition fees. Others are expected to follow suit. This has angered students, many of whom are unable to pay the difference.
For the past year, a financial crisis triggered in part by a lack of foreign currencies has sent the lira into freefall. It is currently trading over 8,000 to the dollar on the black market, crushing the purchasing power of Lebanese people.
Last week, the American University in Beirut and the Lebanese-American University decided to price their tuition fees at a rate of 3,900 lira per dollar instead of the official peg of 1,500 lira.
AUB President Fadlo Khuri said the university had no other choice but to hike tuition fees to make up for the gap between its revenues in a depreciating Lebanese pound and its expenditures.
Independent student groups are demanding the government acts to prevent universities from increasing tuition fees without consulting students, a new contract between students and universities guaranteeing political freedoms, university elections and a cap on hikes in fees, and finally an overhaul of the Lebanese university, the country’s only public higher learning institution.
In the meantime, Mada Network, a youth political advocacy group, is supporting the creation of new independent groups on campuses as students heed their call for change and better representation.
Karim Safieddine of Mada Network says the sudden increase in fees is rejected by students.
“Why should we be the ones to pay the price of the economic crisis just like we paid the price when the same political class stayed in power after the civil war?” Mr Safieddine told the press on Saturday, adding that the protest movement that started in October 2019 had emboldened them to stand up for themselves.
“We decided not to pay the price any more. We will no longer be victims after October 17.”
Beirut is considered a beacon for higher education in the Middle East, its universities attracting the brightest minds in the region and exporting talent worldwide.
Over the years, the chances of finding employment in Lebanon after graduating have dwindled as a sluggish economy forced young people to seek opportunities abroad.
But young Lebanese now envisage a future in their home country.
“October 17 has changed the lives of all Lebanese, but especially students. We were expecting to graduate and leave the country. Now we have hope for Lebanon again. It was life-changing,” Marita Matar, a member of the newly formed USEK Independents, said.
She spoke of a taboo surrounding politics in universities. Politics is often associated with conflict and sectarianism by an older generation of Lebanese who lived through the civil war. This has kept younger people from engaging in political life for a long time. But now, they are reclaiming their right to be heard inside and outside university.
Resigned independent MP Paula Yacoubian, who was briefly present at the event, said this was the beginning of a wider change in Lebanese politics.
“They are the generation of true change. I have no doubt that the shift we are seeing today in student elections will be reflected in parliamentary and union elections,” Ms Yacoubian said.
Student representatives said it was necessary to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 to reflect this political awakening before the 2022 scheduled parliamentary elections.
“Our work starts in university but it does not stop there. After we graduate, our goal is to give people hope in parliamentary and union elections,” Ms Matar said.
“We want to show students that there is an alternative and this alternative is us.”
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
More on Quran memorisation:
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
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Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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